My grandfather, Joseph Broski, served in France during WWII. He passed away several years ago, but my family keeps the memory of him and his service alive. Younger generations (myself included) will never understand what our grandparents went through and I pray we never have to. We need to remember days like this if only to ensure that we don't allow history to repeat itself.

My Uncle Ed served in the US Army during the WWII. He was a combat engineer and served in part of the US Third Army. He was a great storyteller and I recall three items. 1.) The engineers were often with the infantry or in front of them when crossing rivers and minefields. 2.) You could cut the armor plate of the German equipment with a torch before you could cut their welds – they were that good. 3.) During the German Ardennes Offensive (i.e., Battle of the Bulge) they were low on ammunition. So low in fact that unless you were in infantry, armor, or artillery, it was taken from you. They started to stockpile rifle ammunition and kept it under the floorboards of the train cars they were using to move equipment.

In December 1944, the German Army was advancing deep into the lines. They had American and British infantry falling back into rear areas with German troops pursuing. A Captain showed up looking for ammunition. They did not want to tell the truth because they would get in trouble (nobody wanted to give it up). He assured them nobody would say anything.

It turns out they had stashed like 6,000 rounds of rifle ammunition beneath the train car floors. The captain let them keep enough to load their ammo pouches and he took the rest. They never heard another word about it.

Great story Allen! I'm sure there are many more like it that will never be told. Both of my grandparents served as well. One a Marine the other in the Navy. Thankfully both came back from the Pacific in one piece. My Marine Corp grandfather was part of a team that cleared ships and subs captured at sea or in port. He told very few stories, but I know he had more than one close combat fight for survival.

My father, who at the age of 89 is a member of the Disco VFW Post #4659, enlisted in the US Coast Guard in March of 1941. On VE Day, he was aboard the patrol frigate USS Davenport (PF-69), which was escorting a convoy in the eastern Atlantic just south of the Azores, when he and his fellow crew members noticed nearby ships signaling the news that Germany had surrendered. One of his shipmates asked the ship's commander "why don't we leave this slow convoy and go home?" The commander replied, "we can't - there might be a sub or two out here that didn't get the word." Five days later, the convoy safely reached Mers el Kebir, Algeria. Here is a scan of the official announcement of Germany's surrender that was read to the crew of the USS Davenport on May 11, 1945: http://pf69.grobbel.org/alb_veday.htm

My Dad commanded an 83 foot Coast Guard cutter for anti-submarine and rescue in WWII. His boat was one of 60 sent to support the Normandy invasion. At the time his older brother was in the Army Infantry and his younger brother in the Army Air Corps, both in the European theatre. By VE day, he and his crew and boat were returned to the US to patrol the New Jersey coast. After the war he was a full-time active duty officer in the US Naval Reserve in the South Pacific and later in various stations in the US until he retired in 1967.